Saturday, October 29, 2011

31/21 - Article: How to Splint Broken Legs


Broken Legs

The kid was about 1 1/2 months old and broke her leg below the knee. First, we put a bunch of cotton (not cotton balls) all around the leg so it was really padded, and then we taped the cotton on. We then had a PVC pipe that was cut in half lengthwise and to fit her leg so it went past her hoof a bit, so the pressure would be put above the break.

We filled any gaps in the PVC with more cotton, taped it on, and then wrapped the whole thing in vet wrap.

Sporting her new cast! She seemed to get around with it very well, and even jumped up on a chair right afterward! She completely healed up and you would never know she broke her leg.

This doe below was about 18 months old. We found her with her back leg broken, no clue how. It was completely busted and free-swinging.


Like the other goat leg we splinted, we gently wrapped the whole leg with a roll of cotton, carefully holding the break in place as much as possible. We then placed 2 school-type rulers on both sides of her leg. Looking back, I wish I would have put a 3rd one on the back also for more support (see below for pictures of that). But, this worked fine.

We then wrapped it all in vet wrap, and placed a cap of a vitamin bottle on the bottom of her foot to keep it dry and keep the dirt out as much as possible, plus it gives the whole splint more support.

After putting some tape on it to hold things together, we were done!

3 1/3 weeks later we unwrapped the leg, and it looked very good. We rewrapped it with new padding and wrap. This time I added a 3rd “support ruler” to just give her more stability. We left this splint on for about 3 weeks, and then took it off for good. Her leg healed great.


Suriyah

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